In a major blow to China-Australia relations, Australia is planning to exclude Huawei from the list of participants invited for the 5G mobile telecom rollout in the country. Reportedly, the country fears that the Chinese government controls Huawei and the sensitive information related to 5G network technology can pass on to the state authorities.

Authentic sources have claimed that Huawei, one of the global manufacturers of telecom network devices, has been asked to close its business operations by the U.S. authorities, on the grounds of national security issues.

Australia seemingly has nurtured long-standing concerns regarding Huawei’s activities in the country. For the record, in 2012, it had prohibited the firm from supplying its broadband network across the nation. In May this year, Canberra, the capital city of Australia, ensured that Huawei will not be able to construct an internet network cable between Australia & Solomon Islands.

Reports claim that Huawei reacted to the ban, stating that it carries out business across 170 countries in accordance with the national regulations. Alluding to 5G investments in countries such as New Zealand, UK, and Canada, the company further asserted that the respective state authorities took up the firm’s offer of assessing its technology to ensure that it followed cybersecurity laws.

Industry experts claim that the decision will be detrimental to the already deteriorating Sino-Australia relationships. Presently, Canberra is trying to introduce strict legislations to restrict China’s influence in the regional affairs of the country. This decision is based on the criticism made by Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian PM, last year regarding Chinese interference in the internal affairs of Australia.

Analysts are of the view that the decision to ban Huawei can hit Australia’s wine exports to China. For the record, last year, Australia’s wine exports were worth A$848 million to China. In 2018 through, Australia’s wine exports are estimated at about A$1 billion.